Hill pols plan to donate, halt salary

As 800,000 federal workers were given unpaid furloughs Tuesday thanks to the government shutdown, a growing number of lawmakers said they should forgo their own paychecks, as well.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the most vocal advocate of the effort to tie anti-Obamacare provisions to government spending bills that led to the shutdown, announced Monday night he would be donating his salary to charity during the shutdown.

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“I refuse to take salary when #Congress is so dysfunctional that we #shutdown I will donate full salary 2 @RedCross for #Coloradoflood relief,” Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) tweeted.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) posted a video in which he says he will donate his salary to the Wounded Warriors Project, and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said she would donate hers to a North Dakota charity.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) said in a statement he would also be donating his salary to an Oregon charity, and Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas) said his salary would go to an organization that helps injured veterans.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also will be donating his salary, a spokesman confirmed.

Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) may have been the first to make the move, announcing last week he would donate his pay to charity if the government shut down.

Some chose to have their pay withheld.

“As a result of partisan bickering, I have waived my salary for the duration of the gov’t shutdown. #FairnessForAll,” Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) tweeted, with a picture of the letter she wrote to the chief administrative officer of the House asking him to withhold her pay for the shutdown.

Others are trying to take away paychecks for all of Congress during the shutdown. Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) said he would offer an amendment to the continuing resolution in the House to prohibit members of the Congress from receiving salaries during the shutdown, though it was unclear Tuesday if he would also volunteer up his paycheck.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in January introduced legislation that would prevent lawmakers from getting a salary during a government shutdown, but it has sat in committee. She said no Republicans have supported her bill.

A similar bill was introduced in the House in September by Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) with 17 co-sponsors, also stuck in committee, and Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) introduced his own version on Monday.

A spokesperson for the chief administrative officer said if lawmakers want their pay withheld, a letter like those released by lawmakers is all that is necessary. Nevertheless, pay will be delivered at the end of the shutdown or whenever the lawmaker requests.